Social Media Post Leads To More Charges In Sweetwater County

A pair of California residents are facing felony drug charges in Sweetwater County after being caught with three pounds of pot following a traffic stop, according to a spokesman for the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Department.

Dick Blust said a sheriff's deputy and his K9 partner stopped a vehicle on Interstate 80 east of Rock Springs on Thursday afternoon and found three pounds of marijuana after the dog alerted to the presence of drugs in the car.

The driver, 35-year-old Crystal Amber Nichols, and passenger, 32-year-old Mustafa Khari Askia, both of Sacramento, were arrested and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to deliver, and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance.

But later in the day, the arresting deputy was contacted by a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper who had seen Askia's booking photograph posted on social media and recognized him from a previous arrest in Sweetwater County several years earlier.

The trooper said that during the earlier arrest, Askia had identified himself as ''Sergio K. Hernandez." Blust says after a little research, investigators found out Askia--alias ''Hernandez''-- was wanted for parole violation in California. Askia had been released from the Sweetwater County jail, but after the trooper put out an alert he was arrested in Nevada. But that wasn't the end of the case.

More investigation turned up a warrant for Askia (as Sergio K. Hernandez) from the circuit court in Green River for failure to appear/pay, possession of a controlled substance.

At last report, both Nichols and Askia/ were in the Sweetwater County jail awaiting court appearances.